Dark sorcery
.]] Dark sorcery, more commonly known as "witchcraft" or "Morgul magic" by the Free People of Middle-earth, was art of practicing dark magic for evil purposes. Famous practitioners of dark sorcery are mostly dark servants of the infamous Dark Lords Melkor and Sauron. Its users, as well as all human practitioners of magic, were known as Sorcerers. The Istari used light magic, similar to the Elves and the Ainur in Valinor and outside of Arda, rather than dark sorcery. History Before his defeat, the Dark Lord Morgoth (simply known as Melkor) had used dark sorcery in his fortress of Utumno and later Angband. He was most infamous for his experiments in creating and mutilating monsters, including the orcs, Wargs and Dragons and used much of his powers to corrupt Arda. Dark sorcery was also used in the Second and the Third Age by the Black Númenóreans, a group of corrupted Númenóreans who grew during the later period of Númenor (especially after the arrival of Sauron) and who survived in the Númenórean colonies south of Gondor. Originally they styled themselves as "King's Men" and persecuted the "Elf-friends" because of their loyalty to the Valar (The King's Men had grown jealous of the elves' immortality). After Sauron's arrival at Númenor they begun worshiping Melkor and the darkness they so feared, bringing human sacrifices to him. After the fall of Númenor ,the Black Númenóreans continued to serve Sauron. Two Black Númenóreans who were infamous for using sorcery within Sauron's armies were the Witch-king of Angmar and the Mouth of Sauron. At around the late Third Age, in the fortress of Dol Guldur, the Necromancer (Sauron in disguise) was believed to be an Úlairi. He was eventually forced out by the White Council, but he returned to his former kingdom of Mordor and publicly declared himself alive, shown as Mount Doom erupted once again. After Sauron's final destruction that began the Fourth Age, a Man by the name of Herumor had rose to power and was rumored to have established a cult that worshiped the Dark Powers in Gondor. Powers and abilities Dark sorcery included a variety of spells, potions (alchemy) and other ghastly things that belonged to the Dark Arts. Dark sorcery was frequently used as a weapon, shown by the Witch-king's bewitched sword at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Morgul-blades were noted to have been enchanted with dark sorcery, so that a victim would go through the Shadow World and turn into a wraith if stabbed. The Fires of Orthanc were said to be sorcery invented or created by Saruman. Many of the Rings of Power (the only known exception being the three Elf-rings) amplified the wearers abilities as a sorcerer and warrior and where presumably forged with the help of Dark Magic. The fortresses of Dol Guldur and Minas Morgul were enchanted with sorcery, hence their translated names in Sindarin. Known practitioners Practitioners of dark sorcery were named 'Sorcerers' and these included: *All the Dark Powers **Melkor **Sauron ***Dark Servants of Sauron ****Mouth of Sauron ****Herumor ****Saruman ****Nazgûl *****Witch-king of Angmar Category:Weapons Category:Magic Category:Evil